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44 stand a trial in Ho Chi Minh City on November 13 for gambling and organizing gambling on online casino M88 website. Photo credit: VnExpress

A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday handed jail terms to 30 people and suspended sentences to another 14 who were found guilty of gambling and organizing gambling activities on M88, one of the world's biggest online casinos, local media reported.

It was the second case linked to the Philippines-based website that went to court this year in Vietnam, where gambling is illegal.

The People's Court sentenced Tran Long Thanh, 27, one of the two representatives of M88 in Vietnam, to nine years in prison.

His father Tran Hau Chi, 55, the other representative, is still at large.

Another 10 defendants, who joined Thanh and Chi in opening 22 bank accounts to receive bet money from gamblers, received jail terms ranging from one year and 25 days to seven years, local media reported.

Another 33 who bet on football games and joining other activities on M88 were convicted of "gambling." Nineteen of them got jail terms of up to two and a half years, and the rest received suspended sentences.

Over VND1.4 trillion (US$61.77 million) was sent to M88 through the ring's bank accounts between April 2013 and September 2014, news website VnExpress reported.

In May the city's court also sent 52 people to jail and gave seven others suspended sentences in a similar case.